Manchester United are due for some big changes for a long time. The club has spent their transfer money unwisely in recent years, and this has resulted in a very problematic squad full of unruly players. United manager Erik ten Hag has shown himself to be quite strict in this matter, sending off Jadon Sancho on loan to Borussia Dortmund and dealing strongly with other players.
A loan deal is often a good solution for a club, as they can send off any players to any club easily and get rid of their wages temporarily. Similarly, they can send their young superstars to other clubs in order for them to get some game time and improve massively. However, one United loanee is facing big problems.
Manchester United loanee Hannibal Mejbri must impress his new boss
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag had allowed teenage sensation Hannibal Mejbri to leave on loan this January. It was mainly because they wanted their teenage star to get game time and improve, ready to come back stronger for their squad. He was not impressing Ten Hag and got limited playing time at Old Trafford.
Hannibal was allowed to go to Spanish club Sevilla, thinking he would improve there. There was also an option to join Everton, but he refused that.
But his time in Spain is not going well. Spanish media outlet AS reports that the Tunisian is struggling and needs to convince Sevilla manager Quique Sanches Flores. He has only played for a total of 36 minutes since his move in January. Even more shocking is the fact that he has gotten two yellow cards in that playing time.
šØš¹š³ Hannibal Mejbri has been told by Sevillaās manager Quique SĆ”nchez Flores that he needs to ālearn what Sevilla isā before he will be given a proper chance in the team. So far, heās featured in just 13% of the available minutes. #MUFC [@diarioas] pic.twitter.com/0fPXt2sSf1
— Anyi Manchester United Fan Base (@Anyimanutd) February 9, 2024
The midfielder is said to be working hard as he wants to feature in the first team soon, but the manager is still not satisfied with him. Apparently, unless he performs really well in training and such, he will not be in the manager’s plans.
The coach has already given ‘several warnings’ to the 20-year-old teenager and has given very harsh wording to him. It seems that the loanee must impress his manager soon; otherwise, the whole loan spell will be quite useless.
Hannibal Mejbri career overview
Hannibal Mejbri was born in Paris in 2003 and started his youth career at many local clubs before joining Ligue 1 side Monaco. Manchester United noticed his talent early on and brought him to their academy after battling with many other clubs that were interested in the young talent.
Arriving in 2019, Mejbri quickly impressed Manchester United’s youth levels. He was in the U-23 squad at just 17 years of age. He made his senior debut on May 20, 2021, in a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, after some time training with the first team.
The next season saw him loaned to Championship club Birmingham City in order to improve. His first goal came there on February 10, 2023, in the form of a beautiful free kick against West Bromwich Albion. It was his only goal for them last season as well.
Mejbri was included in Ten Hag’s plans for the current season, and he started and played in some games. He scored his first goal for the Red Devils early this season in a 3-1 defeat to Brighton. Due to less game time than expected, he was loaned to Sevilla in January, where he is in the dilemma mentioned above.
Hannibal has dual nationality for both France and Tunisia, and despite his youth career with the French youth national teams, he chose Tunisia at the senior level, even being in their 2022 World Cup squad.
Hannibal Mejbri will have a chance to prove himself in tonight’s game for Sevilla against Atletico Madrid in La Liga. If he still does not get to play, then Manchester United have a real problem on their hands.
